


cat hair

by compendiary



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 08:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13714323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/compendiary/pseuds/compendiary
Summary: jaebum moves into jinyoung’s dorm with his cat although there’s a strict no pet policy on campus accommodation. jinyoung agrees to help him keep this secret, even going as far as to claim that the cat’s meows are his own doing.





	cat hair

One of the downsides to living in the college dorms is the existence of the hallway leading to Jinyoung’s room. Walking through the hallway is annoying because he’d rather avoid any and every form of human contact today, thank you very much, but the walkway leaves a lot to be desired especially when he has to trudge past his neighbours and stop to make small talk so he doesn’t come off as an arrogant asshole. Even just meeting eyes with someone as he’s trying to get to his room fills him with dread.

It’s mostly just today, though. Other days, Jinyoung is more open to conversation. He’s not exactly a fan of them, but he’s not as bothered then when he’s faced with a situation where he has to make an effort to socialise.

“So they bring out this huge keg, and it’s like, almost three feet tall,” Jackson, who lives a door down from Jinyoung’s room, excitedly recalls without sparing details to Jinyoung’s increasing dismay. “I didn’t even know there were kegs in Seoul. You know what a keg is, right?”

Jinyoung nods, resisting the urge to cut Jackson’s anecdote short. “I’ve never seen one, but I know what it is.”

“Okay, so the keg’s out, and guess what?” Jackson enthuses, his eyes open wide and they’re practically radiating with excitement.

“What?”

“Mark appears and he shuts it down.”

Jinyoung gapes at Jackson. “That’s… That’s how the party ended?”

Jackson still looks positively elated regardless of how anticlimactic the conclusion to his story is. He nods excitedly, awaiting Jinyoung’s approval of his dramatic retelling of last night’s events. “Yeah, _Jinyoung_ ,” he drawls, holding Jinyoung by the shoulders. “You know how hot Mark is when he’s authoritative. He’s the hottest RA I’ve ever had.”

Mark—bleached blonde hair, sharp nose, sharper teeth. “He’s the _only_ RA you’ve ever had,” Jinyoung deadpans. His brain throbs harshly against his skull as he holds himself back from rolling his eyes.

“Which automatically makes him the hottest.”

“ _Jackson_.”

Jackson waves a dismissive hand in front of Jinyoung’s face as he steps back resignedly because of Jinyoung’s reluctance to involve himself in Jackson’s Mark drama. It’s ridiculous that Jackson tries to get himself in trouble just so Mark has to check up on him. “Anyway, you know how Youngjae moved back to his parents’ place?”

Youngjae had the room sandwiched in between Jinyoung’s and Jackson’s. He vacated it a few weeks ago because he missed his dog too much and the dorm has a strict no pet policy. He was one of the friendliest people on the floor, and Jinyoung actually _liked_ bumping into him in the corridor.

He misses Youngjae.

“What about him?” Jinyoung asks, making a mental note to contact Youngjae later to ask him how things are going for him now that he has to commute 45 minutes to campus.

“I heard that a new student’s moving in soon,” Jackson says, gesturing to the room that used to belong to Youngjae. “Don’t ask me how I know, I have my sources.” Jackson cockily puffs his chest out and sticks his nose up in the air.

“Mark?”

Jackson deflates a bit. “Yeah.”

Jinyoung pats Jackson on the back as he motions to leave. His headache is only amplifying with every passing minute he spends standing in the hallway. “My head’s killing me, I’m going to turn in early,” he offers as an explanation as he winces, playing up the dramatics. “Today’s been rough.”

“Oh dear,” Jackson mumbles, waving Jinyoung away. “Will you be coming to the party tonight?” he calls to Jinyoung as Jinyoung’s unlocking the door to his room with his keycard.

“The one Mark’s inevitably going to shut down again?”

“Oh, shut up,” Jackson snaps. “That’s a no, then?”

Jinyoung shrugs, pushing the heavy door open and taking a good look at his warm, inviting bed. It’s only 5pm but with a nice cup of tea, an interesting book, and the promise of a good night’s sleep in front of him, he’d be crazy to go out. “Nope, too tired.”

Jackson looks disappointed but not surprised. “I’ll fill you in tomorrow,” he promises with a two-finger salute, already walking away before Jinyoung can tell him that he doesn’t have to.

As his door slams closed behind him, Jinyoung takes a few steps forward to flop himself down onto his bed, his arms stretched wide as his face meets a soft pillow. The heaviness of his head doesn’t dissipate but it feels more tolerable in this position, so against his inner voice yelling at him to get up to wash up first, he shuts his eyes and lets himself fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

Jinyoung doesn’t think much about what Jackson said about someone new moving in next door to them until he hears the sound of boxes being piled outside, and the familiar noise of a keycard being scanned to unlock the door. He hasn’t heard the muffled sound following the weeks Youngjae moved out, and it’s both comforting and bothersome to know that someone’s going to be living next door again.

He was just getting himself comfortable with making as much noise as he wanted in his room because it’s right at the end of the floor, not that he makes a lot of noise to begin with—he’s not a loud music kind of person by any means—but it was nice to know that he had the choice to make a ruckus if he wanted to. Now he doesn’t have that opportunity anymore unless he wants to be branded as inconsiderate.

However, he’s also glad that someone’s finally taking over the vacant room. He’s heard a few noises from behind the walls a couple of times and it’s going to be easier to explain to himself why there would be movement in the room if someone’s actually living in it.

He’s not anticipating the awkward introduction and even more awkward conversations that will follow, though.

That thought is cut short by a gentle rap on Jinyoung’s door, and Jinyoung blinks a few times before he calls a “Coming!” as he gets up to open it.

There’s a man behind the door, not much taller than Jinyoung himself, and he looks up from the ground sheepishly. He smiles when he meets eyes with Jinyoung, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly. “Hi, my name’s Jaebum, I’m your new neighbour,” he greets, holding out a hand for Jinyoung to shake.

Jinyoung takes it, trying not to think about how firm his grip felt when they let go. “Park Jinyoung,” Jinyoung states, sticking his head out to look at the boxes lining the hallway. “That’s a lot of boxes.”

“I kind of need your help,” Jaebum says, looking down at his feet again.

Jinyoung can’t help but follow his gaze. “What can I… _oh._ ”

There, nestled between Jaebum’s feet, is a pet carrier, and Jinyoung notes a brown little face pressed against the netting before the creature meows. It’s a cat. “I know she’s not exactly allowed here,” Jaebum starts, looking left and right guiltily. “But Nora’s spoilt and I don’t have the heart to say goodbye yet so I brought her with me...”

“Her name’s Nora?” Jinyoung asks beyond himself.

Jaebum smiles. “If it’s not too much trouble, could you look after her for a bit? I’m going to be moving some things around and I’m worried that she won’t like the noise,” he explains, picking up the carrier. “But if you’re allergic or you don’t want to, it’s okay too! I just thought I’d ask.”

Jinyoung has never liked cats. He’s not really a pet person—he thinks they’re cute sometimes, but he doesn’t go out of his way to interact with them. Jaebum looks incredibly earnest, though, so Jinyoung only holds out his hands to receive the carrier to his own surprise. “I’m not allergic,” he answers, tilting his head to take a closer look at Nora through the netting. “Hi, Nora.”

“Thank you. I’ll make it quick, I promise,” Jaebum states, already motioning to pick up a box. “I’ll come get her the minute I’m done. If she whines just hush her gently.”

“Do you need any help with the boxes?”

Jaebum shakes his head, cradling a large cardboard box filled with books and a few rolled up posters in his arms. “I don’t want to bother you any more than I already have. Go back in. I’ll be an hour, tops.”

Jinyoung nods. He takes the cat into his room, placing the carrier on his desk next to his table lamp. The carrier takes up quite a bit of space, but Jinyoung only pushes his laptop aside as he tries to resume typing up his thesis.

Nora meows softly every time Jinyoung looks away from her for more than a minute, and she only stops whenever he gives her his undivided attention by looking back at her questioningly.

“You’re a real bratty princess, aren’t you?” Jinyoung says to Nora, resting his chin in his hand as he admires her.

Nora gazes back at him with her round eyes, meowing in response.

All his plans to keep her contained are destroyed as he lowers the carrier onto the ground and unzips it. He watches as she pokes a head out curiously, as if to check if she’s really free, before lazily stepping out to survey the place. “Don’t make a mess, Nora,” he calls, sitting back into his chair.

Nora hops onto Jinyoung’s bed before he can stop her, and she nestles herself down into one of his pillows.

He’s about to open his mouth to tell her to get down, but she continues looking at him with those eyes, and he just can’t deny a tiny animal such a simple pleasure. He lets her make a bed out of his. “If I wake up with cat hair all over me, your owner’s going to get an earful.”

Nora meows.

 

Jaebum finishes unpacking in under an hour, and his knock on the door startles Jinyoung from his position on his bed. He was previously stroking Nora’s head as he lay sideways looking at her, but he gets up immediately when he hears Jaebum’s knocks.

He opens the door to reveal Jaebum hovering outside, a little squeaky toy in his hands as he cranes his neck up to peek into Jinyoung’s room to locate his cat. “Hey,” Jaebum says, pressing on the cat toy once, and it squeaks obnoxiously.

Jinyoung steps aside to let him in. “We were just about to become best friends,” Jinyoung jokes, gesturing towards where Nora’s comfortably laying. “She skipped the entire awkward phase and just made my room hers.”

Jaebum looks scandalised to see Nora sitting on Jinyoung’s pillow. “Oh my God,” he mutters, making the toy squeak again as he leans forward. He pats both his thighs as he calls for Nora to approach him. She doesn’t. “I’m so sorry,” he apologises, looking to Jinyoung. “She’s not always like that. Okay, maybe she is. But she usually comes to me when I call.”

“It’s okay, we were laying there together.” Jinyoung squats down on the ground, gesturing for Nora to come to him. To his surprise, Nora actually gets up and leaps down from his bed. She walks over to him languidly, and she rubs her face against his legs when she stands before him.

“Oh,” Jaebum exclaims, picking Nora up. “You really did become best friends.”

Jinyoung laughs. “Jealous?”

Jaebum puts her back into the carrier as he smiles. “She usually doesn’t take to strangers very well,” he explains, hoisting the strap of the carrier onto his shoulder as he turns to go. “Thanks so much for taking her in. And about your bedsheets and pillows—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jinyoung interrupts him to say. “I’m not that much of a clean freak.”

Jaebum smiles, and it’s like the whole place lights up. Jinyoung tries not to stare. “Okay. Thanks, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung follows Jaebum over to the door, holding it open for him as he steps out. “You’re welcome, Jaebum.” He watches as Jaebum walks over to his room, scanning his keycard to open the door. “Oh, and welcome to the neighbourhood.”

Jaebum gives him a look of disbelief at first, but with good humour, of course, before waving goodbye as he steps inside.

Jinyoung hurriedly closes his door and he sighs loudly at himself. “Welcome to the neighbourhood”? Could he be anymore lame? He shakes his head, willing himself to forget about it.

It’s not as easy to forget when he finds cat hair on his pillowcase when he’s getting ready for bed.

 

* * *

 

It’s a few days before Jinyoung bumps into Jaebum in the corridor again. He forgot his notebook on the way to drama practice, and he had to turn back to get it with a narrow window of time before he’s late for the meeting.

Jaebum has something bunched up under his sweater, and it’s no surprise to Jinyoung when he hears a soft meow come from the lump under the material. “Hey,” Jaebum says as he chuckles, looking relieved that Jinyoung was the one who caught him with Nora and not someone else. “I was just taking her out for a walk.”

As if on cue, Nora pokes her head out of Jaebum’s collar, looking at Jinyoung curiously.

“How are things going?” Jinyoung asks, all thoughts about his notebook and rushing for his rehearsal session momentarily forgotten. “Are you fitting in alright?”

Jaebum nods, a hand coming up to scratch behind Nora’s ears, making her purr in contentment. “Everything’s going great,” he replies, grinning in Jinyoung’s direction. “I talked to Jackson the other day, and the two kids in the rooms opposite us… Bambam and Yugyeom?”

“I see you’ve already had the misfortune of meeting the worst of our floor.”

Jaebum laughs. “They’re a bit loud when they come home late, but they’re quite nice.”

Jinyoung can’t help but smile, watching the way Nora leans into Jaebum’s touch as he continues petting her head. “I take it that Mark doesn’t know about her yet?” Jinyoung asks conversationally, playing with the hem of his shirt as he looks back at Jaebum, who’s still pampering his cat nonchalantly. Jinyoung wonders if he’s unbothered because he’s set up an agreement with Mark.

“It wouldn’t be smart to let Mark know,” Jaebum points out. “I don’t think he’s the type to play favourites even if I butter him up.”

Jinyoung thinks back to the time when Jackson triggered the smoke alarm in his room by smoking weed in it. It was 4am in the morning and when Jinyoung verified that it wasn’t actually a fire, he had waited for Mark to arrive to investigate as their RA. Mark isn’t a morning person, so Jinyoung expected him to be unhappy about being woken up from his beauty sleep, but when Mark came and determined that the alarm was just triggered by “a bit of smoke” he promptly turned the it off and told everyone to go back to bed.

Jackson wasn’t given an official warning despite the strict rules in the dorm for both smoking and the possession of recreational drugs (although the weed wasn’t exactly present at the scene, the smell was undeniable). Plus, the fact that Mark was wearing jeans and an oversized hoodie with the hood pulled over to conceal half his face was evidence enough for Jinyoung to conclude that he had something to do with the whole incident.

“Nope,” Jinyoung quips, trying not to give away his musings in order to avoid slandering their RA. “Mark’s completely impartial.”

Jaebum seems to catch wind of Jinyoung’s trail of thought but he only raises an eyebrow slightly without question. “Are you done for the day already?” he finally asks after a few seconds of silence, his fingers that were previously scratching under Nora’s chin now coming to a stop.

“Oh shit, I was running late!”

Jaebum laughs.

“I have to go,” Jinyoung exclaims, hurrying past Jaebum with large steps to get to his room. Before he pulls out his keycard he pauses, turning to see if Jaebum is watching him. He is. “Right, I also wanted to tell you that Mark gets back in another half an hour. My rehearsal ends at 5, so I can distract him and let you know when the coast is clear if you want.”

Jaebum lets Nora crawl back under his sweater as he nods. “That’ll be amazing, actually,” he starts, pulling out his phone. “We should exchange numbers.”

Jinyoung rattles off his phone number as he opens the door to his room, taking a brief glance over at Jaebum hurriedly tapping onto his phone screen with only one hand. “Text me in a bit and I’ll save your number, I’m _really_ running late.”

He doesn’t wait for Jaebum to reply before he goes into his room to search for his notebook, looking through the stacks of novels on his desk. He finds the notebook in one of the drawers next to his bed, and he quickly throws it into his bag before dashing out the door to get to the theatre. Jaebum is already gone by the time he steps back into the hallway.

When he arrives at practice, he shyly apologises to his friends for his tardiness before finding himself a comfortable corner to settle down in. He pulls his phone out, having already forgotten about his promise to Jaebum, but he sees a message from an unknown number that instantly reminds him.

 _Hi Jinyoung, this is Jaebum_ , the message reads with an emoji at the end of the message. It’s apt, too, because the emoji is the one of a cat grinning widely.

Jinyoung hides his face behind the sleeve of his shirt so people don’t see him smile.

 

* * *

 

Jinyoung helps Jaebum out with Nora a couple more times before anyone else starts to suspect anything. Nora’s usually rather quiet even though she likes to vocalise whenever spoken to, but if Jaebum is absent from his room for an extended period of time, she gets whiny and meows into the empty space. It’s not particularly loud, but loud enough to hear if you were to be in the neighbouring room.

It doesn’t disturb him, though, so he doesn’t say anything to Jaebum. He just feels a bit bad for Nora.

When Jinyoung goes to the communal kitchen to make himself a cup of green tea in the morning, he’s greeted by Mark leaning against the counter next to the electric kettle. Mark has his phone in his hands, and he looks up from it through his fringe and mumbles a lazy “Hi,” to Jinyoung.

It’s 9am so it’s unusual for Mark to be awake so early, but Jinyoung doesn’t question it. “Rough night?” he asks instead, noting the disheveled state Mark’s hair is in and how Mark looks exhausted with his shoulders slumped.

Mark grunts in response, moving away so Jinyoung can boil himself a fresh batch of water. “I had something going on last night,” he replies, his voice hoarse. “Didn’t get back until late and my sleep quality was absolute shit.”

“Why didn’t you sleep in?”

Mark shrugs. “Got woken up by a nightmare, couldn’t go back to sleep after.”

Jinyoung nods sympathetically. He listens to the rumbling from the kettle as the base of it heats up to boil the water inside, his grip on the handle of his mug tightening as he looks to Mark again.

“Say,” Mark begins, flipping his hair out of his eyes. “Have you heard any weird noises coming from the new guy’s room?”

Jinyoung blanches, knowing very well that Mark is talking about Nora’s crying from last night. “New guy? You mean Jaebum? What noises are you talking about?” he deflects, trying to buy time to think of a solid excuse to keep this secret under wraps. Mark’s obligated to do his job, even if Jaebum’s pet isn’t bringing them any trouble.

“It sounded like a cat,” Mark explains, slipping his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. “I was in the area last night and it just sounded weird. Did you hear anything from your room?”

“You were ‘in the area’?” Jinyoung opts to say instead, attempting to throw Mark off edge. Mark was probably hanging out with Jackson again, and Jinyoung doesn’t want to know what activities require him to be in Jackson’s room late at night. That’s the only way Mark would’ve heard Nora’s whining.

Mark swallows. “I was doing my rounds,” Mark visibly tenses. “As your RA and everything.”

The water audibly boils and the kettle turns itself off, the switch automatically flipping upwards to let Jinyoung know that the water is ready. He sets his mug down and pours in a generous amount.

“I swear it sounded like a cat, though,” Mark continues.

Jinyoung thought Mark would’ve let it go after being teased about his ambiguous relationship with Jackson, but he doesn’t. “It wasn’t a cat,” Jinyoung quickly says, taking a cautious sip of tea to avoid from scalding his tongue.

Mark is looking at him pointedly now.

“It wasn’t a cat…” he repeats, the gears in his head spinning to cook up a lie. “Because it was me.”

“You?”

“Me.”

Mark blinks slowly at Jinyoung for a few seconds, not buying the fib. “ _You_ were making weird noises in Jaebum’s room at 2am? Why?”

“It’s for a musical,” Jinyoung blurts out, letting his mouth run on autopilot. He’s bound to make something up as he talks. “Jaebum’s helping me rehearse for something that’s coming up.”

Mark raises an eyebrow.

“Ever heard of _Cats_?”

“You’re participating in a remake of _Cats_?”

It _is_ difficult to believe that Jinyoung would stoop as low as to involve himself in an amateur remake of an award-winning musical. The last time the drama club said they wanted to perform a rendition of _The Wizard of Oz_ , Jinyoung had led a resistance against it. Or, to put it simply, Jinyoung had complained to everyone he knew about it and he ranted about how he would never take part in something that could never match up to the original.

It’s a disgrace.

Jinyoung can only nod as he takes in how Mark’s obviously judging him right now. He has no choice. He has already told the lie. “This is embarrassing for me,” he admits, trying to look defeated and humiliated to play into Mark’s empathetic qualities. “Don’t tell anyone about this. Especially not Jackson.”

“Why would I tell Jackson?” Mark’s tone is defensive.

“I’m just saying… Don’t tell anyone. I’m not proud of it.”

Mark nods, reaching over to squeeze Jinyoung’s shoulder as he motions to leave the room. “I didn’t know you were _that_ desperate for a role as a cat,” he mutters as he walks away, stretching his arms out above his head as he yawns. “Just try not to practice at strange hours of the night again. It really freaked me out.”

Jinyoung follows behind him, taking another small sip from his mug. He’s going to have to fill Jaebum in on this lie later.

 

* * *

 

When Jaebum hears about the narrative Jinyoung has established to explain his cat’s crying to Mark, his first reaction isn’t one of panic or worry, instead he _laughs_. He laughs, loudly and obnoxiously, slapping his thigh in excitement from his seat on his bed, surprising even Nora who was comfortably curled up in his lap.

“It’s hilarious, hahaha,” Jinyoung says sarcastically, rolling his eyes when Jaebum is still laughing two minutes later. “Do you know what’s at stake here?”

Jaebum composes himself slowly, dabbing at the edge of his eyes as if he were tearing up earlier. “I do,” he agrees, holding out a finger to stop Jinyoung from speaking over him. “I’m so sorry you had to tarnish your reputation like that. I’ve never watched _Cats_ but if you ever need a real partner to rehearse with, I’ll do it.”

“It’s not about me!” Jinyoung argues. But maybe it is. It’s unfortunate that he had to tell such a humiliating lie just to protect a _cat_ , but maybe it’s not really about him at all. He might really want to protect this cat.

“Are you really in the drama club?”

“That’s all you got from this conversation?”

Jaebum shrugs noncommittally. Nora has hopped off his lap at this point, and his eyes are following her as she makes her way towards Jinyoung, pawing at his ankles to get his attention. “Well,” Jaebum drawls. “I just didn’t think you’d be a drama geek.”

Jinyoung scoffs at that. “Excuse me?” He bends down from his position on the chair next to Jaebum’s desk to pick Nora up, setting her down on his legs as he strokes the fur on her back. “I’m majoring in acting. The drama club isn’t the worst part about me.”

“Oh. I thought you’d be in business or something. You look like the studious type.”

Jinyoung eyes Jaebum silently, wondering what Jaebum’s major is. He looks like he’d be doing something like law or sports science, but he also looks like the type who would be into the arts. It’s difficult to pin him down. “What do you do, then?” Jinyoung finally settles on asking outright. He’s not going to get anywhere with random guessing.

“Music,” Jaebum answers, and it’s not the first thing Jinyoung expects to hear, but it’s not _unexpected_.

Jaebum has a few novels on his bedside table, a cover or two of which Jinyoung recognises, and on his desk are some sheets of music and a pile of tattered notebooks. Probably books where he jots down any inspiration he gets.

Nora meows softly at Jaebum from her seat in Jinyoung’s lap, and Jinyoung is shaken out of his reverie to see Jaebum observing him quietly.

“Not the first thing I would’ve guessed for you too,” Jinyoung states without heat, smiling a bit. “You should totally compose something for _Cats_ one day.”

“Is the drama club really doing _Cats_ this term?”

“No,” Jinyoung admits. “Even if they were I’d be completely against it.”

Jaebum laughs, reaching behind him to feel around his bed for one of Nora’s toys. He finds it underneath a blanket. It’s a long stick with a pink feather attached to the end of a string. The little bell at the tip of the stick jingles as he waves it around to get Nora’s attention.

Nora doesn’t pay him any heed.

“Tough crowd today,” Jaebum jokes, tapping Nora lightly with the stick. “It’s actually a bit unsettling how much she likes you.”

Jinyoung lets his fingers find their way to the underside of Nora’s head, stroking the fur at the base of her neck gently as he hums in agreement. “What are your plans with her anyway? You’re not planning to keep her here forever, are you? I’d say she has to learn to live without you someday, but I think _you’re_ the one who needs to learn to live without _her_.”

Jaebum shrugs. “I’m not… well, I’m not as overprotective of her as you might think,” Jaebum begins, reaching over to pick Nora up from Jinyoung’s lap. He cradles her in his arms as Jinyoung looks on in curiosity. “I actually took her in about a week before moving in here. I found her all scratched up next to a convenience store. I asked the cashier about her when I bought her some tuna, and he said something about how she’s been loitering about for a few days already. I didn’t see a collar on her and we clicked immediately, so I thought… hey, she needs a home, and I could use a companion.”

Jaebum’s eyes are trained on Nora fondly as he rocks her back and forth in his arms, his gaze warm as he looks down at her. It’s fatherly, almost.

“It’s new, then,” Jinyoung comments, gesturing between Jaebum and his pampered feline. “The connection. It makes sense to want to keep her close when it’s still new.”

“I just don’t want her to think that she’s being abandoned again, you know? I’m the only person she has.”

Jinyoung sighs softly, resting a hand on Jaebum’s thigh as he locks eyes with him. He doesn’t expect to say anything—he doesn’t have the right words cued—but he says something anyway. “That’s not true. She has me now, too.”

It’s stupid, Jinyoung knows it is. Whatever he offers doesn’t come close to what Jaebum is giving Nora—food, shelter, unconditional love. He shouldn’t have said anything.

But Jaebum is happy. He’s smiling now, it’s not wide or showy, but a small curl of the edges of his lips. It reaches his eyes, but in a subtle way. “She’s going to be twice as spoilt now,” he surmises, letting Nora go in the spot right next to him on the bed.

She totters away without sparing them another glance, going over to take a drink of water from her water bowl on the ground.

“I’ll adopt a more disciplinary form of parenting,” Jinyoung jokes.

“Somebody has to play the bad cop,” Jaebum agrees.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic with jjp as the main pairing. the second part will be up after i write it (this was written on a whim and developed quickly, so if i ever get started on the next bit it’ll definitely finish itself in no time). i’ve had this idea in my head for years ever since i came across a prompt for it and jjp is the perfect pairing for it. i hope everyone likes it!
> 
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/jiaerwang/) || [tumblr](http://maenjeongisn.tumblr.com/)


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